They want the ATF to limit the retention of firearm records at 20 years, followed by the immediate destruction of any digitally recorded records.
“In our view, the current practice of indefinite retention of firearm transaction records, and even the proposed retention period of up to 60 years, are excessive and risk infringing on the privacy of lawful gun owners,” they wrote.
Clyde explained to the “Washington Watch” program about what this means for gun owners.
“Prior to the Biden administration, records retention was 20 years at the Federal Firearms Licensee level, and there was really no time limit for it at the ATF level,” Clyde says. “When a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) goes out of business, then they are mandated by the 1986 law, Firearm Owners Protection Act, to send their records to the ATF.”
However, the law also required, he says, that the ATF would not record that information forevermore. This is where the violation occurs. He says this is a massive issue because the ATF now has over a billion digital records of FFT transactions.
“The Firearm Owners Protection Act also says that the federal government may not have a registry of firearms, a federal registry. So, the ATF has all of the information to create a registry and literally has created a registry,” Clyde warns. “If you apply AI to it, you could find out anything that someone has done in those billions of records.”
In May, the ATF had proposed a rule, known as the “Firearm Records Retention Periods,” aimed at amending regulations set by the Justice Department. The change would mean records would be retained for a specific period instead of indefinitely.
During the Biden administration, Final Rule 2021R-05F required FFLs to retain their records without an expiration limit. They were to be maintained until the license activity is discontinued. The ATF declared this necessary for firearms tracing.
Clyde advocates that this new ATF ruling should return to the pre-Biden Era of only 20 years.
“So, a total of 20 years so that there can be some traces on records for active criminal investigations,” Clyde states, “But other than that, 20 years and be done with it and those records need to then be removed and deleted.”
